Volleyball is served new recruiting class

Penn's Stephanie Horan took the Ivy League by storm as a freshman last year, making the Ivy League Championship All-Tournament Team while leading the league in service aces. This year, the Quakers might just have nabbed another Stephanie Horan in freshman outside hitter Stacey Carter. "She has the body type of Stephanie Horan," Penn coach Kerry Major said. "When I watched her play, she moved a lot like Steph." Of course, duplicating Horan's success will be a tall order for Carter, especially since the 5'11'' freshman needs to beat out senior captain K.C. Potter just to gain a starting position opposite Horan. "It's going to be hard to beat that experience out," Major said. "But I expect Stacey to challenge her and push her real hard." Carter, who will be returning from a stress fracture next month, is considered Penn's top front line recruit. But the Quakers will be bringing in several top freshmen in the back line, including Los Angeles, Calif., native Alexis Zimbalist. "I think I have possibly the top defensive specialist in the nation coming in with Zimbalist," Major said. "She's just everywhere all over the court; she will go to the back row right away for us to gain some ball control." Hawaii native Shayna Higa will look to join Zimbalist in the back line. Higa, who stands just 5'1'', was twice named her team's Most Inspirational Player in high school. Higa was drawn to Penn by both its distance from home and her connection with Major, who coached the incoming freshman when she was just 14. "The first year I played club volleyball, I played for her," Higa said. "And there was a big difference [in my play] before and after." The Quakers will also be welcoming two 5'8'' outside hitters, Kai Gonsorowski and Michelle Kliszewski. Gonsorowski, whom Major calls the "most athletic person on the team," will also compete in the high jump for Penn's track program. Kliszewski, meanwhile, had sibling ties with other Ivy League schools but still chose Penn. Her sister Kristina played volleyball at Yale, while her brother Matthew played football at Princeton. Kliszewski was a four-year letterwinner in both soccer and volleyball in high school. Rachel Sherer, Lauren Silbert and Elizabeth Watty round out the Quakers' eight-woman recruiting class. They are all listed as front-line players, but may end up seeing most of their time early on in the back row. "The offense I'm running takes tremendous back row ball control and right-on nailed perfect passing," Major said. "I could see me using a lot of the freshmen for that. Their first step onto the court would probably be in the back row." The eight new freshmen will be counted upon to ease the loss of five seniors from last year's 11-16 Quakers team.